No Good Deed- Friday Flash

The music poured out of the car speakers, drowning out the sound of Jaden’s sobs as she drove. How could Gavin do that to her? She hadn’t even been at the party for more than 15 minutes and he was already in some room with another girl. If he thought that was acceptable just because he was the star quarterback of their high school, he was sadly mistaken. That was no excuse.

Neither was the fact he was really hot.

She wiped at the tears as they streamed down her face, navigating the dark road ahead of her. She should have known. The only reason Gavin would have invited a nobody like her to a party was to humiliate her. She was an idiot for not seeing it sooner.

She sped along, her knuckles white as she gripped the steering wheel. She wanted to get home and put this whole awful night behind her. Then she could spend the rest of her Senior year in her room, hiding from the social nightmare her life was about to become.

She slowed down as rain began to fall. It wouldn’t help anything if she got herself splattered all over the highway. She would only be known as the pathetic girl who killed herself for the school jerk. No thank you. That was so not happening.

As she rounded a corner, her headlights illuminated a dark shape in the middle of the road. It laid there, shrouded by the darkness and the rain. Jaden slowed down, stopping in front of the thing.

It raised its head as she did, its eyes holding so much sadness in them..

“Oh my God,” she breathed as she opened the car door. It was a small grey dog. Someone must have hit it and left it for dead.

She ran to its side, staring down in horror. There was so much blood. The dog was covered in it.

It raised its head and whimpered, begging for help the only way it knew how.

“Hang on, sweetie,” she told it as calmly as she could. She glanced around, trying to figure out what to do. She couldn’t just leave it there. The dog would die if she did. She couldn’t let that happen. She would never forgive herself if she did.

There was only one choice. She needed to get the dog to someone who could help. She slipped her jacket off, laying it over the dog. “It’s going to be okay,” she said softly as she scooped it up. It whined softly, leaning into her as she carried it to the car.

Once the dog was settled in the backseat, Jaden started the car and raced towards town. She had to get the little dog help. She couldn’t let it die.

The trees rushed by outside as the swoosh of wipers counted down the miles. “You’re okay, little one,” she repeated over and over, trying to keep her mind focused.

A chuckle rose from the backseat. It wrapped around Jaden, clenching her heart in a vice grip of fear. She glanced back over the seat. The jacket wrapped dog was the only thing back there.

Her eyes darted back to the road. It was late. She was upset. Her ears were only playing tricks on her. That’s all it was.

More laughter erupted from the back. It rolled out, thick and heavy, filling the car, practically smothering her with the weight of it.

Jaden glanced over the seat again, her heart shuddering at what she was seeing. The dog had pushed its way out of her coat. It was sitting there, staring at her, its face changing as laughter poured from its lips.

The dog’s face melted away, a human’s face replacing it before changing back into the dog. Back and forth, the faces took turns staring at her, the laughter never stopping.

Jaden slammed her foot down on the gas pedal. That couldn’t really be happening in the backseat. But just in case, she needed to get someplace where people were. Now!

She kept her eyes locked on the road, ignoring the laughter. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting somewhere she wasn’t alone.

There was movement in the backseat as the dog shifter closer. She took a deep breath. It didn’t matter what the dog was doing. A few more miles and she would be safe.

There was a blur out of the corner of her eye and suddenly the laughter was directly in her ear, hot breath tickling her neck. She turned her head, not wanting to, but couldn’t stop herself. A face stared back into hers, inches away. It had settled into mostly human , eyes black as coal as it grinned down at her.

“You let me in,” it said softly, voice as cold as ice.

Jaden slammed on the brakes, swerving the car onto the side of the road. She had to get out of the car, away from this stringy haired creature. It continued to laugh as she threw open the door and flung herself from the car. She staggered away, trying desperately to hang on to her sanity.

The thing climbed out of the car, half crawling, half walking. Its eyes glowed red as it stared out of long dirty grey hair. It laughed as it pointed a bony finger in her direction. “You let me in,” it croaked. “You let me in! You let me in!” Laughter followed the words, echoing through the night.

Jaden took a step back, watching the thing slowly drag itself away, its eyes never leaving her. She stood there, shivers causing her body to convulse, the thing’s laughter still ringing in her ears.